Soft-body:
A brunette, two blondes and a redhead. The dolls come with a Birth
Certficate with their name (Hebrew and English), so you don't know her
name until she arrives. For an additional fee, you can order a custom
certificate with the name of your choice.

Gali Girls has just started publishing books in
which their dolls will be heroines. You can now buy a "Miriam's Journey"
doll and a "Reyna and the Jade Star" doll. The Miriam doll is the same
as the soft-body redhead, dressed in the Miriam's Journey outfit. Reyna
is a slim, all-vinyl doll with black hair and dark brown eyes. Reyna
comes with a green "jade" pendant for girl and doll.

The
Frequently Asked Questions page of the Gali Girls website has this
summary:

"Q. What are Gali Girls?

A. Gali Girls are the first Jewish dolls of their kind. Gali Girls
represent Jewish values such as modesty, kindness, respect, and
charity, among others. Gali Girls are modestly dressed in trendy
shirts and skirts to distinguish them from most other dolls on the
market that are dressed to accentuate their bodies."

The Gali Girls are the brainchild of Aliza
Stein, of New Jersey. "I was at the toy store with my kids (two boys),
when I took a close look at the dolls in the doll aisle", Stein said in
an interview. "What I saw was both fascinating and horrifying. Most of
the dolls were Barbies and Bratz and they seemed to be more about taking
clothes off than putting them on. Most had heavy make-up -- and then
there were the boyfriend dolls on their motorcycles." Stein had been
working as a professional recruiter for many years and was looking
around for a business opportunity. "That got me thinking that there was
probably room, and definitely a need for a doll that would be more about
empowering girls and promoting positive values through doll play."
Because her Jewish faith is important to her, Stein also wanted to
create a doll that would help young girls connect with their Jewish
heritage. "And maybe learn something about Jewish culture and
communities in the past and in the parts of the world they may know
little about."

The company has been selling dolls since
November, 2004, but only recently came out with the first of a planned
series of historical fiction books.
This first book, "Miriam's Journey: Discovering a New World", by Robin
K. Levinson, follows 10-year-old Miriam Bloom and her mother and sisters
as they journey to America to join their father who has already left
Russia for America, fleeing persecution and looking for greater
opportunity. Miriam and her story are based on Levinson's grandmother's
real life story. You can purchase a limited edition Miriam doll -- a
redhead who is dressed in the same outfit as Miriam in the cover
illustration of the book. "Finding Robin Levinson was a dream come
true", Stein said. "I can give her a vague idea and she immediately
comes up with marvelous story outlines!" Stein is equally pleased with
the book's illustrator, Drusilla Kehl, who Stein said managed to come up
with beautiful drawing that matched the images she had in her mind's
eye.

The second book, "Reyna and the Jade
Star", is set in 1175 China and just came out in July, 2006. The Reyna
doll is a departure from the previous dolls: she is a slim, all-vinyl
doll manufactured for Gali Girls by
Carpatina Dolls. Reyna is a gorgeous, high-quality doll that you can
read about on the Meet Carpatina page.

Another
book and
doll, from 1662 America, is planned for the future.

The
soft-body dolls themselves are decent quality, comparable to the ones you
would find at Target or Wal*Mart. The same Lotus doll has been sold under
different names by different companies, such as Lillian Vernon and
Constructive Playthings. However, with the Gali Girls, you are buying
more than just the doll, of course. The
redhead doll has a wig that is
exceptional quality and style and it really distinguishes her from her rooted-hair,
Gali Girl sisters and from those being sold elsewhere.

Her
clothing is also cute and well made, though basic. The Shabbat kit that
comes with the dolls is wonderful and justifies the extra cost of the doll
(compared to similar quality dolls) by itself. It is sturdy wood and comes with candles, wine cup, wine
decanter, knife, challah, and challah cover. It would be a fun project
to paint the set with your daughter but it is nice even in its
unfinished state. The doll also comes with Jewish star (Magen David) bracelets for the
doll and girl and a birth certificate. The packaging is nice and there
is no excessive use of fastening like with so many other play dolls these
days.

If there are already American Girl dolls in your household, the
soft-body Gali
Girl will fit right in. Her waist is slimmer than AG, her shoulders are
a little less broad and her feet are a little smaller, but most AG
clothes will fit her fine. See below for comparison pictures of the two
dolls' body types. [Thank you to Just Magic reader Ruthie for the comparison pictures of her Gali Girl,
Gila, and American Girl Samantha.]

Gali Girls and American Girl body comparison

On
the left is a Gali Girl showing how well she fits in the American Girl
Today, Go Anywhere outfit. Magic Attic-size shoes fit her best though
some styles of the larger American Girl shoes will fit just fine, such
as these purple zip boots. There is a small line of outfits available
separately for the dolls, such as the Miriam's Journey outfit shown to
the right. The packaging is nice with a zippered bag that can be re-used
as a garment bag.

There are only a few other Jewish girl/doll pairings in the play doll
market. Two are Lindsey, the first Limited Edition Girl of the Year doll
from American Girl, and Heather from the Magic Attic Club. Lindsey's
Jewish heritage is only incidental to her story, coming up mainly
because of the rather stereotypical disruption in her family caused by
planning for the party to follow her brother's up-coming Bar Mitzvah.
Magic Attic Heather's Judaism is mentioned in passing in most of her
books, with the exception of the excellent "Vivť,
Heather!", where she goes back in time to explore her roots as a Jewish
Gypsy in Spain.

The Gali Girl dolls are marketed to Jewish girls with the admirable goal
of helping instill a sense of pride and increased knowledge of their
culture. This doesn't mean that they aren't appealing to girls of all
backgrounds, however. As author Levinson observed about the first book,
"Although Miriam is a Jewish adolescent, this story conveys positive,
universal values, and provides an informative and exciting lesson in
Jewish history. Itís a story that boys and girls alike can enjoy and
relate to, as well as readers from all religions and cultures. Thereís
danger, adventure, and conflict. The main characters are strong, smart,
and courageous. Basically, itís a good story with a good message." What
more could you ask for?